Human Interest to Receive up to $50M Investment From Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Tactical Value will invest up to $50 million in 401(k) provider Human Interest Inc., bringing the San Francisco-based company to more than $700 million in total primary and secondary financings.

According to a statement from Human Interest, which launched its 401(k) plan management platform PartnerConnect in April, Morgan Stanley’s investment is part of a Series E funding round that previously included investments from Marshall Wace, Baillie Gifford and BlackRock.

This year, Human Interest is on track to work with 37% of all new 401(k) plans in the U.S., according to Rakesh Mahajan, its chief revenue officer, citing internal data.

“Morgan Stanley’s investment is a further testament to what we’re doing,” Mahajan says. “We’re trying to bring [the retirement plan industry] into the modern age, and these investments are enabling us to continue that.”

Mahajan says Morgan Stanley’s investment will help fund development of an “amplified” version of PartnerConnect that will be released during the year’s third quarter.

In its first three months, PartnerConnect was used by nearly 1,000 customers with more than 400 advisers from more than 140 firms, according to the company.

Mahajan says the company is helping bring 401(k) plans to those “most ignored” by the industry, including hourly workers.

“A car rental company that just signed up, they have 10,000 employees, almost all hourly workers, and they’ve never had a retirement plan,” he says. “It is humbling and heady to be able to help.”

Last year, Human Interest took “significant steps towards public company readiness” with its Series E funding, but Mahajan did not share a timeline for an initial public offering.